Islamorada

After the trying to help the grounded neighbors, we raised anchor and continued south to Islamorada. The area is actually a village of islands, an incorporated village that includes the islands of Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key, and Plantation Key. We anchored off of Upper Matecumbe Key.

Once settled at anchor, we headed out on the dingy to explore a bit. We meandered through the mangroves, crossed under one of the A1A bridges, and headed north a bit. Holiday Isle, a resort we'd heard about, was just on the other side of the bridge, so we tied up our dinghy and went to check it out. It's a very large property, but the numerous accommodations are in need of some updating. The surrounding bars and food huts were neat, though, and there was a Reggae band playing. After a walk around, and a drink, we decided to make the 1.5 mile walk to Hog Heaven. Scott and I have both stopped at Hog Heaven on separate occasions, during trips to Key West. Since it was so close, we decided to eat lunch there.

On our walk, we past Theater of the Sea. It's a marine park, where you can meet and swim with dolphins and sea lions, as well as see shows. I made a note to visit the next day! We continued on, and I spotted a roadside bar that looked interesting. As we got closer to Ocean View, a sign near the door read "The Oldest and Most Established Liquor License in the Keys". Well THAT was enticing!

It was a great place! The inside is decorated with lots of dark wood and pictures of local history. After getting our ICE COLD 1.75 draft beers, we went outside, to check out the rest of the place. Out back, we found an outside bar, tables, a pool table, and a nice pool. There is also a path through the mangrove that leads to a small pier. Ocean View also has rooms to rent for the night. The hotel building was neatly painted and the shutters of each room had palm tree cut outs...very welcoming.

Just a few minutes more down A1A, and we were at Hog Heaven, we sat at some stools and ordered lunch. We enjoyed a view of the Atlantic, the waters made calm by a protective reef. After some food, drinks, and a rest. We headed back to our dinghy at Holiday Isle.

After a brief stop back at the boat for sunset, we decided to take our dinghy south a bit and see what we could find. We'd heard of The Lorelei Restaurant, where locals go for sunset. A short ride took us right to it. We beached the dinghy, had a drink and looked around. From there, we decided to hit Route 1 on foot again, and see what we could find. We passed many cute, retro-looking hotels, as well as some more exclusive ones. I'd read that food at Whistle Stop was affordable and good. It turned out to be bar food, which was ok, but we enjoyed the surroundings.

The following day, we rented bikes. We stopped for lunch at Wahoo's. Our table looked over a small marina and then out to the water. There were quite a few kite boarders in the water, and we were amused by them while we waited for our food. Then it was on to Theater of the Sea(more on that in another post). Afterward, we rode past some houses and hotels before returning the bikes.

After covering some of Islamorada for two days, it was on to Marathon. Here are our pictures.